The Three Ostian Spies
by PurpleJ
Summary: It's a story of Matthew, Jaffar, and Legault.
1. Prologue

Prologue: Mission Impossible 

"IMPOSSIBLE!" shouted a young man.

Another man said, "Calm down, Matthew. You are an Ostian spy. You are to follow the order. My brother knows what's best for the country and it is his decision that you're going to be sent as spies to Bern with Jaffar and Legault."

Matthew replied, still was not happy with the answer, "But Lord Hector, how do you expect me to work with someone from Black Fang, and an assassin who killed Leila? How can you trust them to work together with me?"

"I don't. I don't trust them. I don't like Jaffar as much as you don't like him, Matthew. But my brother, Uther, knows that Jaffar has an exceptional skill. We both know it too because we've seen what he could do when we stopped Nergal. Remember? Legault's skill is also not questionable at all, he was said to have similar skill to the Four Fangs of Black Fang. That's not something to be underrated at all. You, as a spy, should know that better than anyone else, Matthew. Now let's go to the strategy room. My brother and Oswin would explain the mission to you," said Hector.

Matthew was obviously angry and he did not like the order at all. But he knew that he had no choice, he was an Ostian spy indeed, and he knew that going against Lord Uther's command would not be something that Leila would be proud of. He knew that Leila would have wanted him to continue on to serve House Ostia as long as he could, and even if possible, surrender his life when serving them. This mission though, it was like being rubbed with salt on a wound. To be sent on a mission with someone who killed his dear lover? How could one not feel insulted? That question kept on replaying inside his brain while Matthew was on his way to the strategy room with Lord Hector.

The Ostian spy opened up the wooden door while giving a small nod to the soldier who guard the room with his iron lance. Matthew allowed Lord Hector to enter the strategy room before he followed him into the room and close the door behind him. Lord Uther and Oswin were the only two people in the room at that time, they were discussing something that seemed to be important enough that they both ignored Matthew and Hector. Oswin finally noticed their arrival and told the two of them to have a seat while waiting for Jaffar and Legault to join them for the briefing of the mission.

A few minutes had passed by, and the two former Black Fang members had not shown themselves at all. Matthew and Hector were both getting restless and irritated. The younger brother of the Marquess of Ostia stood up and started to pace himself around the room. Lord Uther and Oswin both ignored his action and continued to discuss the matter seriously between themselves. Matthew still thought about the order, wondering what was so important (and dangerous?) that he needed to be assisted by Jaffar and Legault. Before he could come up with a good answer to his own question, the wooden door of the strategy room was opened once again and Jaffar entered the room with Legault.

"Sorry we're late, we took .. ehm ... a _detour_ around the castle," explained Legault. Jaffar was being his usual silent self, and said nothing.

Oswin acknowledged their presence and told them to take a seat. Hector was aFngry with them being late, and about to confront them before Lord Uther grabbed his arm, telling him to sit down and listen to the briefing. As he was about to take a seat, he noticed that his seat was taken by Legault while Jaffar sat to the left of Matthew, pinching the Ostian spy in between the former Black Fangs. Matthew stood up and about to find another seat, but Legault blocked his way.

"My my .. young Matthew doesn't want to sit beside me?"

Matthew ignored the sarcastic question and turned to the left to walk pass Jaffar, but the so called Angel of Death stood up and blocked his way as well. No words came out of his mouth though. Matthew immediately grabbed Jaffar by his neck.

"STOP IT, MATTHEW!" yelled Oswin. He continued, "Behave yourself! You're in front of the Marquess of Ostia. Don't start any trouble that you might regret later on, Matthew."

Matthew was so tempted to say that it would be worth it to finish Jaffar off even if that meant him being released of his duties and position to serve House of Ostia, but he loosened his grip and sat down. Hector was about to object to the comment, but saw his brother's look and chose to stay silent. Even he, the carefree one, knew that this time was about something serious. They should all put aside their personal problems with each other and focused to work together.

Once they finished the small quarrel, Oswin began the briefing of the mission, "Now as you all probably know, you're here to be briefed about your mission to spy on the Kingdom of Bern. I realize that Lord Hector had been wondering why we would want to spy on our ally, but we should take any means that is necessary to protect our own people. The Kingdom of Bern is now currently under King Zephiel's rule after the death of his father a few months ago, but due to his lack of experience in ruling a nation, Queen Hellenne had requested for an advisor to help him out carrying his duty as the new king. Now this advisor is our problem. Ever since he took part, there has been questionable decisions made by King Zephiel. The advisor's name is Levan, and apparently he has been rumored to be involved with Nergal a few years prior to Nergal's death. A few early reports from Leila mentioned that .."

Matthew's hands started to shake uncontrollable, and Oswin decided to stop his explanation for a while. He apologized to Matthew about it, but then emphasized that they needed to continue with the briefing. So he went on with his explanation and mentioned that Levan's name had been mentioned as the one who bridged Nergal's followers to the true Black Fang. It seemed that Levan had been involved with Brendan Reed in the past as well. Oswin then asked whether either Legault or Jaffar had heard the name Levan before or not.

Both of the ex Black Fang members confirmed that they knew the name, it was the only time that The Angel of Death and The Hurricane worked together. Legault then mentioned that his job in Black Fang was to hunt those who betray the Black Fang and execute them on the spot. He added that Levan was supposed to be one of those who were executed, and he was sure that Jaffar killed Levan with a stab of the dagger to the heart. But then he remembered that they were not able to confirm Levan's death due to the mercenaries that Levan hired to protect him swarming the place. It was troublesome enough for the two of them to get out alive that they did not manage to get back to confirm Levan's condition.

_"Could he be still alive? ... I guess we'll find out soon."_

Lord Uther took over the briefing, "Let's get straight to the point. The three of you are going to go to Bern to investigate on Levan. There, you would be secretly assisted by the current leader of the Wyvern Knight of Bern, General Vaida and her subordinate, Captain Heath. One of you is going to give report to Oswin at least twice a month. If you find anything suspicious, immediately report back to Ostia. Under no circumstances that the three of you leave Bern at the same time, there must always be at least one of you there to survey the situation at all times. You are also under no circumstances to act on your own. Any action taken other than investigating Levan should be under House of Ostia order and not your own. Any questions?"

The three spies stayed silent, and Lord Uther took it as no question. Before he finished the briefing, he said that all three of them are now Ostian spies, and they were all to cooperate with each other instead of killing each other. After he finished saying that, Lord Uther left the room with Oswin and closely followed by Hector. Matthew, Jaffar, and Legault stayed inside the strategy room, not sure what to do.

Legault finally stood up and said, "Let's go. We got a job to do, partners."

And for a brief moment, Matthew felt that he just might be able to do this mission and get along with the other two.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: One Sweet Dream 

The three Ostian spies arrived at a small village that noon just half a day away from the Kingdom of Bern. They were supposed to meet General Vaida at the village's pub that night, so they decided to spend the night at the village's inn as well. The group entered the inn, and Legault approached the female innkeeper casually to get a room. The woman asked what type of room they would like for the night, and the purple haired spy answered happily that they would like to get the best room. Matthew quickly grabbed Legault's arm and dragged him away while informing the innkeeper that he was just kidding.

Matthew said, "You can't do that, it's not your money, Legault."

"That's exactly why we _should_ do that. Come on, when will we get free vacation again, Matthew?" pleaded Legault while smiling sheepishly.

The youngest spy replied, "I can't believe this is happening. We should save our money, who knows if we need them for something while we're in Kingdom of Bern?"

The Hurricane finally gave up and decided to follow what Matthew wanted. He walked toward the innkeeper and could have been heard weakly murmuring about a darn young thief from Ostia who did not know how to have fun. As Legault stood in front of the innkeeper once again, he now asked for a normal room with three single beds and insisted that they have a clean sheet for that night. The woman informed him that there was only one room left with four beds in it, and one of them had been occupied by a female traveler who just arrived a few hours before.

_"Female traveler, eh? That's even better .."_

"That's alright, we'll take that room," said Legault.

The innkeeper asked, "And what are the names of these gentlemen who would occupy my three beds for tonight?"

Matthew responded, "My name is Matt-"

Legault stepped on his foot. Before Matthew could finish up the sentence, Legault already took over the conversation and said that the young fellow's name was Matthias, the red head man who had not spoken a word was a mute named Jeffrey. Legault also added that it did not really matter what they refer the mute because he was deaf as well, so better just to give him a small pat to get his attention than yelling out his name. Lastly, Legault introduced himself as Lloyd, and that they were travelling merchants who wanted to find a job in Kingdom of Bern.

After being told by the woman that the bathroom was at the each end of the corridor upstairs, he finally excused himself from the lady. Legault led the three men to the stairs to get into the room and as they entered the room, they could see that one of the beds had been used and there was a leather bag under the bed. It was assumed that the bag was the belonging of the woman who occupied the room with the three Ostian spies.

Jaffar suddenly said, "So I'm a mute and a deaf, Hurricane?"

Legault was surprised at the suddent comment, but replied, "Well ... you don't talk much, Jaffar. And I had to come up with a lie to tell. Seeing that you hadn't said a single word at all, it would only be appropriate that you're a mute and deaf as well, my friend."

Before Jaffar could make any attempt to reply once again, Legault quickly stirred the conversation into a different topic by asking Matthew whether he thought that the girl in the room would be pretty or not. Matthew said that he was not interested at all to play a guessing game with him, while at the same time, Jaffar silently slipped into the bed and took whatever rest he could before the planned meeting with General Vaida at the pub that night. Legault noticed that, and followed suit. It had been a few days outdoor sleep for the three of them, and it would be the first time since leaving Ostia that they had warm and clean beds to sleep in.

While the two former Black Fang members fast asleep already, Matthew was wide awake though trying as hard as he could to sleep. He tried thinking about the most boring story that Merlinus had told him once, but it did not work. He tried counting the sheeps, it did not work either. Imagining General Oswin's punishment if he failed this mission, it only made him shudder, not sleepy. As his mind was randomly thinking about specific moment in his past, the door of the room was suddenly opened and a red haired girl entered the room. She paid no attention to Matthew at all, and started to undress to get ready to sleep.

Matthew was surprised, and said, "Miss, I think it would be wise for you to get change in the bathroom."

There was no reply as the woman kept on undressing. Matthew looked at the back of the woman and noticed a tattoo, a familiar tattoo that he had seen on Leila's back. He thought that it would not be possible for the woman to be Leila because she was killed by Jaffar, something that he tried to get over with because his life might depend on the assassin's hands. As the woman finished undressing, she turned around and smiled to Matthew. He, on the other hand, was totally shocked at the face that he was looking at.

"It .. it couldn't .. be ... Leila?" asked Matthew.

The woman gave no reply, but she approached him slowly. Once she was in front of Matthew, she gave him a big hug while saying that everything was okay and there was nothing for him to worry about. She kept on saying that she was alright, and how she would always be with him through life and death. Matthew's eyes quickly became wet, and tears started pouring out easily. He was filled with joy and happiness. To be able to see his dearest Leila once again.

"Leila .."

As soon as he finished saying that, slowly but surely the image of the woman in front of him started to blur until fully vanished into the cold thin air. Matthew yelled loudly, "LEILAAAAAAA!"

In a split second, Jaffar jumped out of the bed to block the door while Legault secured the open window. Both got their weapons ready, but then simply wondered what had caused the other spy to yell like that. Matthew then realized that it was all just a dream, though it felt _very_ real. He apologized to both Jaffar and Legault, quickly explaining that it was just a combination of nightmare and illusion. On the inside, he knew that it was more like a sweet dream, but obviously something really private that he would not share with anyone else.

A knock on the door was soon heard, and a blonde haired woman entered.

"YOU?" Legault dropped his jaw and surprised to see that the imaginary pretty girl roomate turned out to be none other than General Vaida.

She replied, "What? I have to share a room with the three of you? How about if we fight to see who gets to keep the room? Come on, take out your daggers, and I'll bring out my spear. Hurry up, outside while it's not dark yet."

"Huh?" Legault was totally confused and still could not understand anything.

" ..." Jaffar said nothing but took out his daggers out of their sheaths.

Matthew quickly apologized, "Our apologies, General Vaida. We're not her to fight against you. You can have the room if you want to, it's yours. Jaffar, put the daggers back in. Legault, stop opening your mouth wide open like that, it's not polite."

"Hmph! At least one of you have the manners and use common sense. Otherwise I'll have Umbriel eat three little snacks," then she added, "Now to the business, don't make it suspicious, but we're not supposed to know each other. Go to the pub and wait for me there. I'll come there after it's dark."

The three Ostian spies could only follow the instructions and head slowly toward the pub, wondering deep down what was going to be said by General Vaida once she got to the pub as well.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Mission Briefing 

The group of three finally entered the pub. Legault quickly approached the bartender and ordered an alcoholic beverage. Jaffar stayed silent, and his silence was taken by Legault as a way to say that he did not want to drink anything. Either that, or he was just still playing the role of the mute and deaf person. Legault simply had no idea which one Jaffar really meant, but he knew better than to ask. Matthew on the other hand, silently approaching the bartender and whispered his order slowly, as if he did not want anyone but the bartender to listen. The plan backfired, the robust bartender laughed loudly that the whole pub could hear, and all the patrons immediately turned their attention to them.

"Listen up, fellas! This young kid here ... orders milk!"

Everyone in the pub laughed at Matthew, who could only stare at his own feet, trying his best to hide his face. When he finally listened that the laughter had slowed down, he braved himself to lift up his face and look at the world once again. Legault was the first person he saw, and the purple haired spy started to laugh once again the moment he looked at Matthew's red face.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" laughed Legault while pointing his finger toward Matthew.

Jaffar approached the two of them, "Shut up, Hurricane. You're getting unnecessary attention from people. We're supposed to try to be as invisible as possible, not the center of attention. And you, Matthew, what were you thinking? Ordering milk in a pub? No wonder you're being laughed at."

"Sorry, Jaffar" said Matthew, trying to apologize.

Legault apologized as well, "Yeah, sorry. Who would've thought that this kid would order milk? Even my pet cat doesn't drink milk."

After they realized that the attention was not on them anymore, apparently there was someone who got drunk already, even before the sunset. So the bartender, helped by a few other patrons, tried to prevent the drunken person from destroying the chairs and tables. With the attention being distracted to another person, the three Ostian spies quietly sneaked to a table just at the corner of the pub, and patiently waited for Vaida's appearance.

About an hour later, finally the woman that they had been waiting for made the expected appearance. Wearing a cloak to hide her face, Vaida immediately approached the table at the corner, the table that she shared with the three men working as spies. She didn't remove the hood of the cloak to keep her face in dark, but the voice clearly let the men acknowledged that the person sitting with them was indeed General Vaida, the leader of the Wyvern Knights of Bern.

"Now let's get down to business, boys. Shut up and don't ask me questions until I'm finished. Or I'll tie you up as a snack for Umbriel just like the stupid books. Understand?" asked Vaida.

The men simply nodded without making any sound. Then Vaida continued her explanation, "Okay, the target is a guy named Levan. He appeared out of nowhere and take the position as the advisor to King Zephiel. He introduced himself as a relative of Queen Hellenne, but even her Highness the Queen seemed to be a different person a few days prior to Levan's appearance. I haven't managed to confirm this, but I have a suspicion that Levan drugged the Queen somehow and he is now controlling the Queen while continuing to give ill-advice to King Zephiel as if he were a toy to play with."

General Vaida stopped for a while, and the three Ostian spies could easily sensed that the General was furious even by just thinking of what Levan could have done. She then continued the briefing, "Now what I want you to do is to help us keep an eye on Levan, find out what he's up to, report both to House of Ostia and to me, and if needed to, kill Levan if he becomes a big threat."

The nod by them was enough for her to know that they understood how important this mission was, not just for her sake, but both to House of Ostia, and the Kingdom of Bern. The four of them realized that if Levan really controlled King Zephiel, then Levan practically controlled the whole Kingdom of Bern, and he could do anything he wanted to, even at the cost of other people's lives. This was something that needed to be stopped no matter what.

Legault thought, _"Hmm ... I think I'll sneak into Levan's room and steal his stuff after I kill him."_

_"If Levan becomes a threat, I'll inform Lord Hector, General Oswin, and Lord Uther immediately. If I need to kill Levan, I will do it. He must be stopped,"_ thought Matthew.

_"Sneaking in while he's asleep, and stab him again at the same spot I did a few years ago. It would be easy .."_ thought Jaffar.

Vaida thought, _"I'll tell people about Levan's intention, then Umbriel can have lunch."_

After they all finished with their own respective thoughts of what they would have done if it were that easy, they once again discussed on the detail of what to do, and how they would do it. Since there were three of them, they decided that splitting up would be a better option than to stick together. More people at once would be more easily spotted and might attract attention as well.

Legault spoke up, "I think one should be the messenger, one should be the observer, and one should be the one inside."

General Vaida agreed with the idea, and mentioned that she could have sneaked one of them as a Wyvern Knight. Then Heath could have helped the spy once inside the castle. Legault immediately suggested that he was supposed to be the one working inside the castle, but Vaida confidently refused.

"You're a thief, I don't believe thieves. Who knows if you're going to steal something from the castle? You'll be the messenger, Legault. That's it. No objection. You. Messenger." commanded Vaida.

Legault tried to object, but it was useless. He had no choice but to accept the decision. Then it was the matter of who was going to be the observer, and who was going to be working inside the castle. Jaffar said that he did not mind either of the two options, while Matthew was actually trying to avoid working inside the castle with General Vaida, but he was afraid to say it out. Too late!

General Vaida simply said, "You, Matthew. You're coming with me back to the castle. We'll leave in the morning together."

"Wha? Wha ... ? WHA?"

Jaffar added, "I'm the observer. You're working inside, Matthew. Good luck."

The next morning, Jaffar and Legault left the inn just a few hours after the sunrise. They still managed to eat breakfast silently, continuing the play that Jaffar was a mute and deaf. The innkeeper asked about the other man, but Legault told her that he was still asleep, and the two of them were going to leave separately.

Not too long after Legault and Jaffar's departure, the man known as Matthias walked toward the innkeeper and paid for the room. The innkeeper noticed the woman who walked beside Matthew, and asked whether they just got to know each other the day before because they shared the room the night before.

To his surprise, Vaida answered, "Yes, we hooked up last night. But it's a secret, if you know what I mean."

General Vaida gave the innkeeper a wink, while Matthew was left flabbergasted as he was dragged out by the so called girlfriend.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Matthew the Wyvern Knight 

Matthew and Vaida finally arrived in Kingdom of Bern. A few soldiers were seen greeting and saluting at the General, and they could not help but wonder who the guy walking with the General. The soldiers thought that he was an important person from a neighboring country, but they had no idea exactly who he was. As the two of them walked passing by another group of soldiers, Heath showed up to greet Matthew and Vaida. After a short exchange of greetings between Heath and Matthew, the three of them walked into the empty training ground of the Wyvern Knights that only had the wyverns at that time.

Heath said, "Pick your wyvern, Matthew. There are five wyverns without knights right now. So you can choose one out of them. I'd suggest you to pick the blue one, that'd be the easiest to handle for beginners like you."

Vaida disagree with the idea, "Nonsense. He must take the red one because we're going to introduce him as an expert on riding wild wyverns who used to live in the mountains. So he must ride the red wyvern."

"Uhmm ..." With Heath and Vaida's attention totally set on Matthew, he simply couldn't decide which one he wanted to choose. After a while, he thought that it would be wise to follow Heath's suggestion. It'd be better to ride the easy wyvern rather than making a fool out of himself by riding the red wyvern.

Matthew turned his head to face the two Wyvern Knights and said, "I think you're right Hea-"

Vaida, thinking that Matthew was referring to her, immediately said, "I knew it that you would agree with me. Red wyvern it is, the name of the wyvern is Droz. He's Umbriel's father, so he's quite old and very hotheaded. I think the usual rider broke his hip a few weeks ago and had to stay in treatment for a few more months before recovering. But I'm sure you'll be fine, Matthew."

oO ... Oo ... OO!

Before he could've expressed his objection, he was already dragged by Vaida and being lectured on how to ride a wyvern. Heath was left with nothing to say. He simply wondered which one would've occurred first, Matthew's disguise being exposed or Matthew getting injured from an accident from riding Droz. As sad as it might sound, he preferred the latter to happen than the former. The stake was simply too high that they just couldn't afford the plan to fail.

At the very same time, Legault and Jaffar were doing their own duties. Legault, being the messenger, didn't have much to do other than to keep fit, avoid unnecessary attention from the local people, and to be available whenever Jaffar felt the need to pass on any crucial information. With not much to do, he filled his time mostly to hunt for food. Not many people knew that Legault was actually quite a good cook. Matthew and Jaffar were extremely surprised to learn this skill of the Hurricane during their travel together. Now with no one to impress, Legault felt a bit bored by his normal cooking. Not that he had much choice anyway, he had no spices at all other than salt that he bought a few days ago. Same ol boring salted rabbit or boar, depending on which he caught.

On the other hand, Jaffar was very busy with his observation. He tried to follow Levan as close as possible whenever he could. Whenever Levan went outdoor, Jaffar would be not too far away watching and observing every single move that the target's made. But it was not easy at all, Levan turned out to be quite a careful man. Called it intuition or paranoia if you want, Levan simply kept on watching his back even when he was just out on a stroll to the garden. Though it was quite hard to keep an eye on him, Jaffar was an experienced spy none the less. Being unseen was not something foreign to him at all, so he felt that he had managed to be unseen by Levan up to this afternoon.

The next day was the first day that Matthew was introduced the squad of the Wyvern Knights of Bern. General Vaida introduced Matthew as the wild wyvern rider that she met during her recent travel. Interested by the talent shown by the stranger, Vaida managed to convince him to join the Wyvern Knights of Bern, with the high expectation of him as a possible successor as the General of the Wyvern Knights.

Vaida then ended the introduction by saying, "I'm sure you're all so excited to see this guy, so here he is ... Matthias, the wild wyvern rider."

Matthew slowly showed himself to the whole Wyvern Knight unit, not knowing what he had done to get involved in such a mess like this. He was so embarrassed by the whole made up information that Vaida said beforehand that he simply could not bear to lift his head, he ended up looking down the whole briefing on the training session for that day. The first thing was a 30 minute hand to hand combat. Followed by a 15 minute break, and a 60 minute flying session. They would have an hour break for lunch, and after that, there would be a one-on-one duel on wyverns for the whole unit. There would be no time limit on the last session. They would finish by the time the last pair had finished their duel.

The Wyvern Knights were so curious of Matthew's ability. While they showed serious and concentrating faces whenever General Vaida approached them, they could be seen whispering to each other whenever she was not in sight. Heath could not really hear the whispering, but he could certainly hear the name "Matthias" being said over and over again.

_"This doesn't look too good,"_ thought Heath.

Matthew also heard the murmuring of the other Wyvern Knights, _"O boy, I think I'm going to faint ... damn Vaida"_

Vaida, totally oblivious of the whispering, thought, _"Hmmm ... everything looks good so far. I'm such a genius. The knights must've bought all the story that I told just now. Ha ha ha ha ..."_

As the hand to hand combat training and the 15 minute break finished, it was the moment of truth that the Wyvern Knights had been waiting for. They wanted to see how well this new guy could fly with the wyvern, and they were even more surprised when the found out that the new guy named Matthias had chosen to ride Droz, arguably the hardest wyvern to ride on. One by one the Wyvern Knights flew with their wyverns until there were only Vaida, Heath, and Matthew left on the ground.

"Come on, you can do it," said Heath, trying to encourage Matthew to not worry.

Matthew finally had the guts to try flying on Droz. But Droz had other ideas, he flew so quick that Matthew was left to fall back down to the ground. The Wyvern Knights looked at him with a confused look. One knight told the other that General Vaida might have lost her edge, that was obviously not something that an expert would have done when flying.

"I'm okay," said Matthew as he held his head. "Let's try again, I wasn't ready before."

The second attempt was a little bit better. He managed to stay on Droz for an extra second before his face met the ground once again. This time, the Wyvern Knights could not help but laughed at him. The laughter immediatedly died down when they saw the killer look of the General.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," said Matthew as he nurtured his face that now was bleeding a bit.

The third attempt was proven to be the lucky one. Matthew managed to hang on to Droz, and after a few minutes, it was quite apparent that he managed to ride on Droz very well. The other Wyvern Knights were amazed by Matthew's flying ability, while Heath and Vaida's faces were filled with smile, a very relieved wide smile.

During the lunch break, the lunch hall only had one topic of the day's story, the new guy by the name of Matthias. Matthew became an instant popular guy there with many knights wanting to sit and have lunch with him. Unfortunately for him, he had yet to realize that his popularity could be more of a trouble than a good thing.

Not too far away from his table, Levan was seen enjoying his lunch while paying full attention toward the new guy, Matthias.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Crucial Time.

It had been a week since the Ostian spies started the mission in Kingdom of Bern. Matthew, known as Matthias to the Wyvern Knights in Bern, had been the one with the hardest task. Not only did he had to learn how to ride wyverns, he had to keep an eye on Levan as well without being too obvious. Jaffar had decent task in front of him, he went to the city once in a few days to keep up with the rumors going on between the citizens, but he spent most of his time out of the city, watching whether there was unusual military movement or not. So far so good, there seem to be nothing unusual. He thought that whatever Levan was up to, it had not started yet. Legault, on the other hand, practically had nothing to do. The purple haired spy ended up hunting more animals for food, and kept on using the free time to experiment on his own cooking. So far, he had come up with 2 new dishes that he could not wait to share with the chef in Ostia House.

As planned before, the three Ostian spies would have a weekly meeting to discuss on what action would be taken after what happened. The time agreed on would be in a half a day from then. Matthew kept on impressing the Wyvern Knights with his flying on Droz, some even said that his flying skill was better than General Vaida. The General in question of course took offense to the rumor and challenged Matthew to a fight, under the word of "practice" obviously. While his flying skill was definitely surprisingly good, the problem that Matthew had was using the spear properly. As a spy, he had never had the need to wield such a huge weapon. The smaller would suit him the better, but as a Wyvern Knight, it was required for him to learn how to use a spear. The weight of the weapon gave him the most trouble, that was the reason why he kept on using the iron spear rather than choosing to use a heavier weapon like the steel spear.

So the practice started. Vaida on Umbriel versus Matthew on Droz. They flew quickly to the sky while the Wyvern Knights cheered on. The louder cheer was for Matthew as the knights probably was waiting for the time when someone finally could defeat the General. Vaida was annoyed by the cheer and decided that the best defense was a good offense. She flew like an arrow and stabbed the silver spear on to Matthew's abdoment area. It was a pure luck that he could avoid the attack because he did not even see the attack coming in. Had Droz not used its animal instinct, Matthew would have been in the hospital getting treatment. As the crowd oohs and aahs between each near miss, Matthew finally thought of an idea to defeat Vaida. He kept Droz circling on the sky above Vaida and Umbriel. At one moment, Droz and Matthew blocked the sun from Vaida's eyes, and once they moved away to attack, Vaida was blinded by the sun. Despite that attempt, Matthew's attack was a bit late with Vaida dodging at the last moment and even countered with her own swing of the silver spear. It knocked Matthew off Droz, straight to the ground.

Once Umbriel landed back on the ground, Vaida got off and approached the fallen knight, "Good job, Matthias. But you're obviously still far far away from defeating me. Try again in 10 years or 20. Hahaha."

Matthew let out a small sarcastic smile to Vaida as Heath came to make sure that Matthew was alright. He told Matthew not to take the comment into heart as it was just the usual antique by Vaida. He then added that there was no shame for losing against her because despite the attitude, she was the best Wyvern Knight in Bern.

"Yeah, I know. Still undefeated in training and competitions, right?"

Heath confirmed that the answer to the question was a yes. Matthew then said that it was okay to lose against Vaida, but he did not expect this to happen on the day for the meeting between the spies. The fall did not injure him that much, but it would definitely slow him down, and speed along with agility would be crucial for him to sneak out of the castle that night.

The hot topic during the dinner was how General Vaida defeated the rising star Matthias. Some were convinced that General Vaida deserved the respect, while some still considered that it was just a pure luck on Vaida's side to win that practice. In no time, she would be defeated by Matthias, or so what they thought. Matthew was a bit uneasy by the attention he received since the day he joined the Wyvern Knights. He could already imagine Jaffar and Legault lecturing him on how important it was to stay unnoticed. Instead of being unnoticed, Matthew had become the center of attention from day 1. He had a quick glance on the target of the mission, Levan, and he could have sworn that Levan was staring at him as if trying to kill him with his eyes.

Dinner time finally finished, and a few minutes after, Matthew sneaked out of the castle to meet Jaffar and Legault. As predicted before, the first thing that they said to Matthew was how horrible he was to get unnoticed. Leagult teased him up and even suggested a change in duties. Jaffar said that switching duties would be out of the question, but he too fumed on how everyone talked about Matthias in Bern. Though angry, Jaffar's anger was also directed at Vaida whom he called as imcompetent of coming up with better ideas to sneak Matthew in to the Wyvern Knights.

"So what do you have on Levan, Matthew?" asked Legault.

"Well all I know so far is that no one really knows much about him and his background. Mind you that my contact so far are only the low ranked knights, because I'm a low rank knight as well. It would be suspicious if I hang out too often with the higher ranked knights."

Jaffar interrupted, "But you definitely find something about him, don't you?"

"Yes, I know that he showed up out of nowhere, and in a few days, he became the advisor of King Zephiel. Many high rank officers showed their objection, but they could not do anything when the King himself insisted on having Levan as his private advisor. And what's weird is that most of the officers who objected at first had now been Levan's supporters. It's just too weird."

Legault nodded, "Yeah, I agree. It's very suspicious that they changed their positions just like that. Especially since that Levan had done no good other than using more and more military stength."

"And what makes me more suspicious is that the reason why those officers objected in the first place was due to the military issues. They were planning to have the military for the nation's defense only. With Levan using it actively, they should have no reason to support him," added Matthew.

Before they could have discussed anymore, a voice was heard coming out of the bush behind Matthew, "Hee hee, so my instinct is right. You are no usual person, Matthias ... or should I call you Matthew of Ostia House?"

The three Ostian spies were surprised, and as they looked at the source of the voice, they saw Levan was there with around 10 Bern soldiers. The order to capture them was soon given by Levan. As the soldiers creeped toward the trio, Legault immediately run away while Jaffar and Matthew fought against the guard.

Though Legault did not like running away from such confrontation, he knew that it was his duty to ensure that House of Ostia knew what happened. Deep down, he was sure that Jaffar and Matthew could overcome the soldiers and find somewhere safe to hide away from Levan. He just hoped that his instinct was correct just like Levan's. 


End file.
